Syracuse point guard Kaleb Joseph on the inevitable comparison: 'I'm not Tyler Ennis'

Syracuse, N.Y. — Kaleb Joseph rolled his eyes when a teammate popped for an open 3-pointer instead of slipping toward the basket, then pointed to where he should have gone. Minutes later, Joseph took the ball on the wing, beat his defender with ease and sent his opponents scattering as he glided to the rim for a dunk.

By the time he was done, Joseph's team won just one of three intra-squad pick-up games, and the point guard was steamed.

"I don't want to play pick-up no more," he said to a teammate. "Nobody plays hard. There's no defense."

In the span of 60 minutes, Joseph displayed the reason he could struggle initially as a true freshman point guard at Syracuse, flashed the reason most expect him to ultimately succeed, and showcased why all the comparisons he'll undoubtedly hear this season are as inaccurate as they are inevitable.

"I don't compare him to Tyler (Ennis)," Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins said. "I compare him to Jonny Flynn and Jason Hart. Tyler Ennis was old school. Those other guys are new school point guards. Tyler valued the ball like it was a piece of gold. He was like a coach on the floor in that he wasn't high risk. Those other guys, they're great athletes. Instead of hitting singles, it's grand slams."

With a quick first step and long arms and legs, Hopkins considers Joseph to be as good an athlete as any point guard in the 2014 recruiting class.

But along with swinging for the fences comes the occasional strikeout. Joseph projects to turn up the pace of SU's offense but also turn the ball over more frequently, according to ESPN national recruiting director Paul Biancardi, a former college head coach and assistant.

Syracuse point guard Kaleb Joseph's strength is his high-end athleticism, one of the many differences between him and Tyler Ennis.Winslow Townson | Special to syracuse.com

Biancardi, Hopkins and Joseph all agree that he's physically prepared and that his biggest adjustments will be mental.

"Physically, I'm not worried about that," Joseph said. "The thing is my mental approach. That's the only thing that separates Tyler. Physically there's nothing he can do that I can't do twice. The separation is his mental approach to every game, his poise."

Those were facets of Ennis' game that Biancardi said he had no questions about when Ennis entered college. Joseph, meanwhile, has improvements to make.

"What's he going to do when he misses two 3-pointers in a row?" Biancardi said. "How's he going to respond? He's fast and quick, but playing point guard at Syracuse is about doing what Coach (Jim Boeheim) wants and what your team needs."

Joseph is currently ranked the No. 50 player in the country by ESPN and the No. 9 point guard. ESPN ranked Ennis the No. 20 player in the country last year and the No. 5 point guard.

None of the players ranked ahead of Ennis had assist-to-turnover ratios of better than 2, showing how rare it is for a freshmen to seamlessly step into the position.

Hopkins said he sees similarities between Joseph's personality and Michael Carter-Williams. Carter-Williams had difficulty hiding his emotions and his competitiveness often bled info frustration, something he worked on improving.

"I (can be) an a-hole," Joseph said. "I don't like to lose at all. The kids on the team, a lot don't like coming to play pick-up sometimes because if they're on my team and we lose, I'm pissed. I'm not pointing the finger and saying you should have done this or that but it's an awkward tension. I don't like to lose."

Biancardi said he expects Joseph to have a roller-coaster first season as he matures, to excel in the open court and show progress in half-court sets. Hopkins' expectations are similar.

"I'd say he's ready," Hopkins said. "He's going to have some ups and downs. But he'll be learning constantly. We'll see where he is in February and March."

Ennis, the son of an AAU coach, faced no such learning curve. He was groomed as a point guard and involved in the Canadian National basketball program.

Ennis got teammates involved early, took over late and handled himself with a calmness that earned him the nickname "Ice Man." He made it all seem so simple that it was easy to forget just how unique his performance was.

Joseph may do none of those things in his first year. He expects, however, to do things Ennis never could.

He vowed to bring a fast-break back to a team that tied for 282nd in the country in percentage of field goals taken in transition (17.6 percent) according to Hoop-math.com. With a long 6-foot-3 frame, Joseph should be able to finish better around the rim than Ennis did (54.7 percent).

"Tyler was 19 years old going on 47," Hopkins said. "That's what his gift is. Kaleb is speed and quickness and potential. You can't compare them. They are completely different players."

Those comparisons will come, though, the product of being next in line at what Hopkins has dubbed Point Guard University.

Off the court, Ennis was poised and subdued, laid back in every aspect of his life. Joseph is jumpy and jittery, filled with a youthful energy.

Ennis' eyes were calm, taking everything in. Joseph's eyes bulge, always searching and moving. Ennis seemed to think through every word, while Joseph's rush out with bursts of enthusiasm.

"How you are off the court is how you are on the court — mentally at least," Joseph said. "Ennis has a very calm demeanor, that's how he is. I have more energy, but channeling it, learning how to use it to my advantage, that's what I'm working on.